What Does a Flanker Do in Rugby Union?
Rugby IQ · 7 September 2026 · 5 min read
With Du'Plessis Kirifi · Flanker
The flanker wears 6 or 7 in rugby union, and the job is to arrive first. Flankers bind on the sides of the scrum, break off it earliest, and are the first forwards to every breakdown, tackling, competing for the ball on the ground, and carrying when the ball comes back. Both shirts sit in the back row of the pack — see where they fall among all fifteen rugby positions.
What are the flanker’s four jobs?
Everything a 6 or a 7 is picked for reduces to four, in this order. Call them the Flanker’s Four Jobs.
- Arrive first. Off the scrum, off the lineout, off the last ruck — before the contest is settled.
- Win the ball. Tackle, then compete on the ground. The turnover is the flanker’s own currency.
- Carry over the gain line. Short carries off 9 and 10, taken at an angle that keeps the ball moving forward.
- Do it again, eighty times. The last effort has to look like the first, or the first one did not count.
What physical attributes does a flanker need?
Four qualities, and where each one actually lives in a training week.
| Attribute | Why the flanker needs it | How it is trained |
|---|---|---|
| Repeat-effort engine | The 6 and 7 make more tackles and hit more rucks than any other shirt, and the last one has to look like the first | Repeated high-intensity intervals with a ball, not steady-state running |
| Tackle technique under fatigue | The flanker arrives at contact already tired, more often than anyone else | Technique work placed at the end of a session, never the start |
| Leg drive and hip strength over the ball | The jackal is won by holding a low, strong position while being cleared | Hinge and squat patterns, plus loaded holds in the jackal shape |
| Acceleration over five metres | Getting off the scrum and to the breakdown first is a five-metre race | Short accelerations from a low start, both directions |
Frame matters less at flanker than at any other forward shirt: sides pick a 6 and a 7 on engine and contact tolerance first, and two flankers in the same pack are often built nothing alike. The sourced bands sit on one page and one only, rugby positions body types.
6 or 7: blindside vs openside flanker
The 6 is the blindside. He packs on the short side of the scrum, covers the narrow channel behind it, takes the heaviest carries of the two and lifts at the lineout. The job is closer to a second row’s than a 7’s: hold the edge, make the tackle count, and be the forward the maul is built around.
The 7 is the openside, and he plays where the space is. He leaves the scrum first, gets to the tackle before the support does, and competes for the ball on the ground. Where the 6 is picked to stop something, the 7 is picked to steal something, which is why the openside is usually the lighter and the fitter of the pair.
Plenty of sides now pick two opensides and ask one of them to wear 6, because two players who can win the ball on the ground beats one who can and one who cannot. The numbers on the shirts are a starting position, not a job description signed in advance.
The names travel. In Australia a 6 and a 7 are breakaways, and a breakaway is picked for the same two jobs under the other word; in New Zealand both sit inside the loose forwards alongside the 8. The hub table lists every alias against its number.
How does a flanker train?
A flanker trains the engine first and the contact second, because the contact only counts if it is still there at 70 minutes. Four qualities carry the week.
| Quality | Why the flanker needs it | What a session looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Breakdown strength | Winning the ball on the ground is a strength contest held in a bad position | Hinge and squat work, then loaded holds and wrestles in the jackal shape |
| Repeat sprint | A flanker covers more short accelerations than any forward, and the value is in the last ten | Short repeated efforts with incomplete recovery, run around a ball rather than a clock |
| Tackle volume | The 6 and 7 top the tackle count most weeks, so the technique has to survive the count | Low-height contact technique at the end of a session, with the numbers kept honest |
| Neck and shoulder resilience | Every tackle and every clearout loads the neck and the upper back | Progressive neck work in all four directions plus upper-back strength, little and often |
Put together, that is a four-block plan rather than a list of sessions. The four-week workout plan by position sets out the split, and the per-position workout PDF is the version you can take to the gym. If you would rather it was written for you and progressed week to week, ERA’s gym programs are built per position by the internationals who play them.
What does a flanker do at the breakdown?
Three things, and a good 7 chooses between them in about a second. The jackal: get over the ball, take a grip, stay on your feet and hold a low strong position while two opponents try to move you. The clearout: arrive low, past the ball, and put the first defender out of the contest. The counter-ruck: when your side is beaten to the ball, drive through the ruck as a unit rather than picking at it.
The skill underneath all three is choosing early, which is a drill problem before it is a strength problem — see how to choose rugby drills that transfer.
How is the flanker different in rugby league?
In rugby league this differs because there is no flanker at all: the six forwards are two props, a hooker, two second-rowers and a lock, and it is the second-rowers who carry the closest thing to the union flanker’s job.
Where to find out more
The shirt sits inside a whole pack: rugby positions covers all fifteen numbers and what each one does, and rugby positions by body type runs the question the other way, from the frame you have to the shirt it suits. The third loose forward has his own page too — what the number 8 does off the base of the scrum. To train the shirt rather than read about it, the gym programs are written per position.
Frequently asked questions
What is a flanker in rugby?
A flanker in rugby union is a back-row forward who wears 6 or 7 and binds on the side of the scrum. Flankers break off the scrum first, make more tackles than most shirts on the field, compete for the ball on the ground after the tackle, and carry short when it comes back.
What number is flanker in rugby?
The flanker numbers in rugby union are 6 and 7: 6 is the blindside flanker and 7 the openside. Both bind on the sides of the scrum rather than in the tight five. Neither number is fixed to a side of the field — the 6 covers the short side, the 7 the space.
What does a flanker do in union?
A flanker in union tackles, competes for the ball on the ground and carries, arriving at more breakdowns than any other forward. The 6 and 7 leave the scrum earliest, chase the kick, hit the ruck and start the next phase, then do the same again for eighty minutes.
What is a wing forward in rugby?
A wing forward in rugby is another name for a flanker, a historical term still heard in older coaching writing and commentary. It describes the same 6 and 7 shirts: the forwards who bind on the wings of the scrum rather than inside the tight five, and who break off it first.
What does a flanker do?
A flanker in rugby union arrives first at the breakdown, tackles, competes for the ball on the ground and carries. The word means other things in other sports, so the rugby answer is specific: it is the 6 or the 7, one of the three loose forwards at the back of the pack.
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